1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of a printer including a removable cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers including a mechanism in which a head cartridge is removably installed in a carriage are known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-341320, 2007-050527, and 2005-335230. In these apparatuses, the carriage includes a cover that is pivotally opened and closed when the cartridge is installed in or removed from the carriage. To allow the cartridge to be replaced with a new one, the cover is opened. After new cartridge is inserted into the carriage, the cover is closed. The cross section of the cover is L-shaped. When the cartridge is inserted into the carriage and the cover is then closed, not only the top surface but also a part of the front surface of the cartridge is covered because of the L shape of the cover. On the other hand, when the cover is opened, the part of the cover which is bent into the L shape projects over the carriage to cover the carriage. Thus, when a user pulls out a used cartridge upward from the carriage or inserts a new cartridge into the carriage from above, only a narrow space is available for the replacing operation. This hinders the operation.
In the printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-090343, the cover mechanism presses only the head of the cartridge. The cover is not L-shaped. Thus, when the cover is opened, only a small part of the cover shields the area over the carriage. Consequently, the cartridge replacing operation can be easily performed from above. However, when the user inserts the cartridge into the carriage, the electric contact points of the cartridge or those of the carriage may come into contact with a protruding portion other than the contact points, or these contact points may slide on each other, which cannot deny possible damage of the contact(s). This is desirably prevented.